This invention relates generally to shipping containers and, more particularly, to a method and device for safely packaging and shipping hazardous materials, especially biological infectious substances ad radioactive samples.
While government regulations specifiy standards for shipment of explosives, flammables, radioactive materials and other hazardous chemicals, there are presently no regulations regarding shipping of biological specimens such as blood, urine or other body fluids which are commonly analyzed for medical diagnostic purposes. Thus, these materials may be shipped through the mail and by private carriers without restriction. While only occasionally does a shipping container break, the consequences of a breakge of the primary container for the hazardous material can be catastrophic for unknowledgeable and unprotected individuals who are handling it.
The present invention addresses the need for safely transporting hazardous materials by providing a method and device which greatly reduces the chance of damage to the primary container for the hazardous material during shipment and also greatly reduces the risk of exposure to the hazardous material if the container is damaged.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a method and device for transporting hazardous materials, especially infectious substances and biological specimens.
As a corollary to the foregoing objective, an important aim of the invention is to provide a method and device of transporting hazardous material which protects the primary container for the material against breakge during shipment.
Another corollary to the object above stated is to provide a method and device which protects those who handle hazardous materials during shipping from exposure to danger if the primary container for the hazardous material does break.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method and device for transporting primary containers of hazardous materials wherein the device is designed to destruct upon opening thereby assuring that it cannot be used more than one time.
It is also an important aim of our invention to provide a method and device which assures the integrity of samples obtained in random and blind testing of workers, athletes and racing animals by assuring that a container for such a sample cannot be the subject of tampering during shipment without giving a visible indication that tampering has occurred.
Another one of the objects of this invention is to provide a method and device of the type described which may include a shock warning device so as to provide an immediate indication if the transporting package has received a dangerously high shock during shipping.
It is also an important one of the objectives of our invention to provide a method and device of the type described wherein a plurality of the devices can be serially numbered to enhance tracking during shipment.
A further but by no means final objective of the invention is to provide a method and device of the type described wherein a shipping container may be constructed to house a single primary container of hazardous material or multiple primary containers of hazardous material as the need may dictate.